LifeMoves Family Workshop

Final game design

Background

I was brought onto this project after the initial user research was done with LifeMoves donor families to learn what they were looking for with community engagement. The idea for a workshop was already in the works with a very rough outline of the basics that LifeMoves wanted to cover.

I brainstormed how to structure the activities that would be both educational and engaging for kids aged 8 to 13. I ended up creating several artifacts for the workshop including; illustrated videos, discussion questions, and a kid-friendly budgeting game. We hosted two prototype workshops to refine the activities and flow, eventually turning it into an ongoing, successful, and impactful workshop.

Planning the workshop

Outlining the flow

LifeMoves already had ideas on what content to include, such as a discussion on what it means to be unsheltered, how expensive the Bay Area is, and a high-impact video that shows a real family that went through LifeMoves.

We brainstormed ways to make those ideas exciting for the kids to be mentally engaged for the full workshop. The general flow of the workshop had to include time for icebreakers, time for the kids to be comfortable with speaking up, as well as a period where people would be moving around instead of sitting for the full 90 minutes.

Creating a game

Drafting the budgeting game

LifeMoves wanted to demonstrate how Bay Area costs of living could cause homelessness with a monthly expenses list and a discussion on budgeting. However, since we’d be working with such a young age range, we decided to create tangible artifacts for the kids to play around with.

We decided to buy play money for the kids to handle, as well as cards that contained the expense. I sketched an idea for a board containing categories where expense cards and money could be placed as families decided what to pay for that month.

Playtesting

After I had a draft of the game, I was able to playtest it with my coworker’s daughter and work out issues or add more elements.

One change that I made was to add an unexpected life event after a budget was made. This demonstrated to the kids that money disappears quickly and necessary expenses might not be paid for if an emergency were to ever happen.

Setting up the scene

To give some context to the audience before the game, we gave a presentation on the costs of living in the Bay Area. I proposed using simple, illustrated drawings instead of the original idea of stock images because I felt that was too impersonal. Once I had a story, I created the sketches using Illustrator.

The presentation compared two fictitious women — Sally in Kansas, Mary in California — with the same job, but earning different minimum wages and paying vastly different rent costs. It then focuses on Mary’s monthly expenses and how much would be left for rent depending on the city she lived in. The end had a short section on how Mary’s expenses would increase if she had kids.

Prototype workshop

Feedback from the workshop

After running the prototype workshop, we received feedback from the audience and held a debrief with the client.

The families really enjoyed the budgeting game and asked to take it home with them. It was impactful for the kids to see the money disappearing as they paid off the monthly essentials. A few kids were concerned that they had money left over after creating their budget, so we clarified in the instructions that it was okay not to spend everything (this is later emphasized when they’re given the unexpected scenario).

The costs of living presentation gave a better understanding of how difficult living on minimum wage is in the Bay Area. It was a little difficult for the kids to understand the math and grasp how much $10 or $20 amounted to. In the next iteration, I visualized the math progression and included examples like a stuffed animal or board game to give the kids an idea of what $10 could buy.

Adapting to online

Turning to an online workshop

With COVID impacting many lives and making stay-at-home the norm, LifeMoves approached us for help designing an online format for the workshop. We discussed a format where they’d send instructions for families to do the activities at home, then remotely meet with a LifeMoves moderator to have a discussion.

I drafted a layout for the email that would contain an explanation of the activity, the materials involved, and discussion questions for an internal family conversation.

Adapting the budget game to be online

We discussed how to make the budget game accessible for a remote workshop. Our initial idea was to send out kits to the families, but with all the logistics and COVID restrictions, it was too difficult for LifeMoves to implement.

Instead, I created a Google Slides version of the game. It was a little difficult at first, trying to fit all the elements on the page without making it too small. I tried out a few formats and sent them to my coworkers to playtest and give me feedback. Eventually, I ended on a layout that included all of the expenses in a grid and the kids could drag money into the box they wanted to pay for.

Other creations

Creating other artifacts

I created a number of sketches that accompanied different activities which were done through Illustrator. They were included in a video telling real stories of people who went through LifeMoves and in an illustrated brochure with a calendar of community events.

I wrote conversation starters for families to take home and use with their kids to stay engaged and think of ways to get involved with LifeMoves. The conversation starters were printed on colorful paper and placed inside a mason jar with a sticker I designed using the LifeMoves logo.

One part of the workshop involved a tour of the facility. We noticed the kids were losing steam halfway through, so we decided to make it into a mini scavenger hunt. I created a map and wrote riddles pointing to the next spot of the tour for the kids to guess where they were going next. Each location had stickers I designed representing that destination.